Someone said to me once that throughout the ages, more people have been killed in the name of religion than all the people who have ever died of all diseases combined. I don't know whether this is actually the case, but I do think it highlights a vital point.

Religious hostilities, intolerance, radicalization, polarization, marginalization, and discrimination are on the rise. It seems that the situation worsens by the day, while the accompanying violence is particularly alarming in Africa and -- to a lesser degree -- in South East Asia.

Many of us perhaps need to have our notion of God deepened and expanded. We must be ready to learn from one another, not claiming that we alone possess all truth and that somehow we have a corner on God.